1We Just Decided To
April 20, 2010. Will McAvoy comes back to his national news anchor desk two week after a PR disaster at a college forum. He discovers that most of his staff are following his executive producer to another show, and his boss has hired Mackenzie MacHale as the new EP. McAvoy wants nothing to do with her and talks to his agent about getting her fired. While he and MacHale hash things out in his office, the news wire carries a report about a fire at BP's Deep Horizon oil well. McAvoy's old EP dismisses the intelligence that MacHale's assistant is discovering. How will McAvoy handle the opportunity to devote an hour to this news - and can the team put a show together on the fly?
2News Night 2.0
"The Newsroom" - "News Night 2.0" - July 1, 2012
We pick up three days after the pilot April 23, 2012
Will is looking over the resumes and head shots of the young staff McKenzie- who people call Mac-- has hired as his maid cleans and it sounds like people play basketball overhead. A chunk of his dining room ceiling falls on the table. The maid says there are new neighbors.
In the office, Will complains to Mac about how green the staff is. She says she wants to "grow" these people. Before they go into their first pitch meeting, Will makes Mac promise not to tell anyone why they broke up. She agrees.
In the pitch meeting Will crows about learning everyone's name last night and they all argue over whether to lead with BP or with the Arizona immigration issue. Mac says they're going with Arizona and unveils her rules for "News Night 2.0." 1. Is this information we need in the voting booth? 2. Is this the best possible form of the argument? 3. Is this in historical context? Mac shoots down the idea of having someone screwed by immigration reform on the show because she doesn't want to be emotionally manipulative. And she adds a fourth rule: Are there really two sides to every story, arguing sometimes there are five and sometimes there is only one. Mac says they are going to treat the show as a courtroom and that they will only have expert witnesses and Will will be the lawyer and they will get great guests based on that template.
After the meeting Don tells Mac he won't take crap from Will and he's there to help. He asks why she cut some popular elements of Will's show, elements he came up with. She tells him he can have them for his new show at 10. He wonders why since there will be no viewers at 10 after the "eat your vegetables" hour with Will.
Charlie meets with a man named Reese. He's the network ratings cruncher. Charlie says he knows that Reese has a secret meeting with Will every day to break down the numbrs. Reese protests but Charlie asks him to just not do it. He says they're trying something new: the news. And he doesn't want ratings to drive content. Reese explains how that could be good for advertising but Charlie doesn't want to hear it.
After the meeting Jim and Maggie get into a heated debate on several levels. One, he has been asked to oversee her pre-interview with the press aide of the Arizona governor. She says she's done this before and resents someone who has been there three days telling her, who has been there for a year, what to do. Then they start role-playing the call and essentially have the immigration debate. It is oddly contentious. He asks if she's really going to the 10 o'clock show with Don. She rants that, essentially, she thinks he thinks she's following her boyfriend and that she's not as serious about news as he is. They do more immigration banter and apparently this is hot because they are clearly attracted to each other.
McKenzie asks Sloane to do five minutes on the economy on Will's show. Sloane says there are more qualified people but Mac says none with her legs. Sloane agrees and Mac hopes they can be friends. Sloane says they have something in common since her boyfriend cheated on her too. Mac protests that Will didn't cheat but she can't say what did happen and that Sloane needs to tell everyone what a good man Will is. Sloane demurs.
Reese takes an afternoon walk with Will and breaks down the numbers. They talk about BP, his numbers, and what they should do. Reese wants to make him lead with BP because the audience wants it. Will says he wants the changes to his show, sincerely. He puts a little bug in his ear about how to keep the audience spike, and that conservatives watch news so it can't hurt to remind them that they don't hate him. Will is resistant since he wants to try it Mac's way since it is the more journalistic approach. We learn that Reese is not a fan of Mac, Will defends her as a journalist but Reese thinks he's still hung up.
Jim tells Maggie that the Arizona governor bailed. He asks what happened on the call. She says it was by the book. It turns out that she dated the governor's press aide and she didn't tell him about it. They had a disastrous last date. She says she didn't inject her opinions into the call. She realizes he waited this long to bail in order to screw them. She asks him what to do. They call the bookers into an emergency meeting to get a replacement to defend the immigration bill. Mac freaks out, Jim takes the hit. They scramble to find someone and they're the opposite of what Mac wanted. She tells them to book them and have Will carry them. They're worried Will is going to fire them. Mac, again, defends Will as a good guy. She sends Will an email that says that people think he cheated on her and that she actually cheated on him and tore his heart out. She accidentally sends it to the entire staff. She tries to get people to delete the email. Will walks in aghast after the promise she made in his office. Someone accidentally forwards it to corporate.
They fight in his office. And then she explains about the loss of the booking of the governor. She says she takes 98 percent of the responsibility of their break-up. She says he was in love right away and she didn't know she was in love with him until she slept with her ex-boyfriend and confirmed it. He asks why she told him. She said she couldn't have lived with it. He says he would've preferred if he hadn't told her.
Will pulls aside a producer and tells her to put some Sarah Palin stuff in the mix and not tell Mac.
In the control room Jim asks Mac if they went to Afghanistan because she cheated on Will. He points out he got shot in the ass. She tells him to be grateful that he wasn't facing the other way.
Maggie says she was cheated on too and confesses to Will she messed up and can resign and go to 10. He says he doesn't want her to do that. She thanks him.
The show begins and Will starts talking with the leader of a Hispanic rights organization about the immigration issue.
Mac tries to talk to Will about the next segement, with the bad guests, and says it will be fine.
Mac and Jim argue about him covering for Maggie and how he has a crush on her.
Will talks with the three guests and it is more or less a debacle, the "academic" is a racist, the beauty pagaent contestant is an idiot, and the militia man talks about building a wall and Will does the best he can and then actively starts churning the debacle to piss off Mac who wants to dump out.
Mac notices the extra Sarah Palin thing in the rundown and is annoyed. McAvoy defends Palin and it's embarrassing for all.
Will goes to Charlie and personally apologizes for the unprofessional nature of the show. Charlie points out how many people got Mac's email, including people who run tabloid magazines. Charlie says he wishes Will had told him so he could make him feel better and sees that Will is still hurt. Charlie tells him to get it together and his meetings with Reese are over. Will says with all due respect he's the one sitting in the chair.
Neil invites Jim for drinks and apps with the crew. Jim is in.
Mac approaches Will at the elevator and asks if he's in or he's out. They fight over the Sarah Palin issue. They then fight over Sloane. They then fight over who is in charge. She is, she says unequivocally. And she admits they messed up but what he did was motivated from fear and that he needs to be a leader and the moral center of the show, the integrity. It's Friday, she tells him by Monday that she needs to know if he's in or out. He can't believe that he got chewed out by her on a day when she sent an email to everyone in the world essentially that she cheated on him.
At the karaoke bar the young staff drinks and talks about an idealistic future with News Night 2.0.
Don goes to talk to Maggie who is getting soused over her mistake. He asks her again to come to the 10 o'clock show. He says Will and Mac are going to fail. She says she wants to break up because he's clearly not supporting her. He agrees they should break up.
Will's doorman tells him they know how to live with their neighbors here. Will is confused. And then Manny says "your show tonight."
Will comes home to a muffin basket from his noisy upstairs neighbors. They say they'll pay or the damage.
Maggie comes over to have a word with Jim about him covering for her. She doesn't want him to think she needs protecting. He says no one's yelling at her because everyone knows she feels terrible. She tells him she's going to make it work with Don. Neither of them know why. She also doesn't know why she's still being mean to him. Jim then yells at the staff as the "senior producer" because he feels like he has too.
Will calls Neil at the bar and tells him to get the guy from Spokane and pay for a ticket for him to come to New York. He asks after Mac. Neil gives her the phone and she apologizes. Will says he's in and he'll see her on Monday. He admits he's still going to worry about the ratings and popularity and he says yes, but he's in.
3The 112th Congress
"The Newsroom" - "The 112th Congress" - July 8, 2012
Tonight's episode takes place as one long flashback.
The framing device is a meeting that Charlie Skinner is attending with the owner of ACN's parent company, Leona Lansing, (played by the great Jane Fonda in a nice wink to her former real life role as Mrs. Ted Turner), her son, who turns out to be Reese, the ratings guy, but really the president, and some other executive types at the company.
They are breaking down the last six months of News Night and the changes that Will and Mac have made to the show. As we learn about the different changes that have made the brass very, very angry, we go to a flashback of that happening.
It began in May 2010.
Will decided to write an "editorial comment" that outlined his new plan for "News Night." It was basically a manifesto in which he "apologized" for the kind of news that his show had previously been generating: i.e. "ginned up" controversies and the poor coverage of the collapse of the financial system. He admits that he "took a dive" for the ratings. He makes a long speech about the history of television news and its legislative roots and how it was supposed to be for the public good. He evokes great names from the past -- Murrow, Reasoner, Huntley, Rather, and Russert-- and says that News Night is in that business now.
As he's speaking we see him writing the "editorial comment" and faxing it to his staff members late at night and them reading it, getting excited, and getting together to work on the speech. Charlie Skinner signs off on it.
He continues to say they'll only put on what is real news essentially, and that they'll be the "champion of facts." He will share his opinions but will work hard to bring on people with opposing viewpoints. He says it is himself and McKenzie making the deicisons. (Don shows up drunk after the broadcast annoyed that he wasn't part of this new plan. Jim gloats.)
Charlie starts getting confused about what this meeting is about. We learn in the meeting that Will has lost 7 percent of his viewers and of course, pissed off all the Tea Partiers who are now going into Congress, and the network execs are also seriously pissed as what they see as Will calling the network trash.
We then follow through the next six months of coverage and things that pissed off the brass.
- May 4: Will and Mac's decision to not play up a New York City bombing terror plot.
-May 8-November Essentially, Will decides to take on the Tea Party. In doing so he royally pisses off David and Charles Koch, billionaire, one percenter big wigs. Will interviews Tea Party candidates, leaders, fundraisers, and the politicians who were ousted by them. He takes on folks who call Obama a socialist.
-November 2 The newsroom is abuzz with election coverage. Elliott, the guy who was Will's protege and follows him at 10, does not cover himself in glory but Sloan, the financial reporter shines.
Throughout all of this, Will keeps asking about the reaction from "the 44th floor". This is the executive floor, Leona's floor. And Charlie keeps reassuring him that there's no word from the top and that no news is good news. (The irony here is at the end of the flashbacks and election night coverage when the whole gang is celebrating a job well done at the bar at 2 a.m. is when Charlie gets the summons to the meeting that he has been in for the whole episode.)
Leona wonders what happened to the human interest stories: obesity, breast cancer, the stuff that Will was good at. Charlie defends Will and says he is behind the changes. Charlie talks about all of the good stories the show has done. He talks about all of the international stories they've done. He yells at Reese. He drinks. He sputters with outrage. He and Leona bicker back and forth and she points out all the salient business points about why these changes are a very bad idea. She points out that the show accounts for less than 3 percent of the company's bottom line and that she's accountable to the shareholders, and powerful business types like the Koch brothers. She points out several times "I have business in front of this Congress, Charlie." He tries to lecture her about informing the electorate. She tells him in no uncertain terms that unless Will tones it down she's going to fire him. He counters Will will be tough competition. She points out Will's three year non-compete clause. Charlie protests that there is nothing to fire him for. She essentially threatens to manufacture a scandal on Will to create "context" for his firing. And that is the end of that.
Also, while all of this is going on. Will goes out on a series of dates with different wormen, from a Jets cheerleader to an actual brain surgeon, and this is driving Mac crazy because he keeps meeting them in the newsroom. At one point Maggie points out that Will could meet the women at the restaurants. He says he's not doing it on purpose, he's just not considering Mac's feelings. He realizes how that sounds so he goes to apologize to Mac but just as he does, her new boyfriend shows up in the control room. It's very awkward.
The other mini-drama happening is that Maggie and Don keep breaking up and getting back together and all along Jim continues to be a much better friend and person to Maggie. When she has a panic attack, Don blows it off and Jim talks her through it gently and lovingly with tactics he learned from soliders he was embedded with in the Middle East when they had their panic attacks. At the end of election night he's about to make a move during Don and Maggie's latest break up and then he sees them across the newsroom kissing and reuniting yet again.
4I'll Try to Fix You
New Year's Eve, 2010: Don encourages Jim to hang out with Maggie's roommate; Maggie objects. Will, in a tuxedo, decides to be sociable at the station's party, chatting up a visiting columnist. He objects to something she ways, she tosses her glass of Champagne in his face, and a couple days later, a local gossip column accuses him of groping her. A similar event and newspaper report happen a couple days later. What's going on? Then, on Saturday, January 8, by a fluke, everyone's at the station when a major story breaks. Will everyone keep their heads?
5Amen
Will is doing a remote interview with Elliot in Egypt following Mubarak's announcing he would not be stepping down. Don is unhappy Elliot's stuck in a hotel because of the violence. Maggie brings word to MacKenzie of a developing teacher's union protest in Wisconsin. She and Jim both edit pieces on the fly and bring them to the control room just in time.
During a subsequent staff meeting MacKenzie talks about their need for somebody on the ground for Egypt coverage. Jim's face is bloodied by Maggie accidentally opening doors into his face.
Charlie pulls out Will and MacKenzie to tell them Wade is strongly considering a run for Congress and he's worried their having her boyfriend on the show will be an ethical problem. Added to Will's Page Six stuff, and Charlie is growing more concerned.
After the meeting MacKenzie tells Will she thinks Wade used her.
Neal suggests an Egyptian stringer videographer who goes by the name Amen. Neal's been following him on Twitter and YouTube and makes a passionate plea for the hire based in part on feeling a kinship with Amen because of how he got into journalism. Don pops in to say Elliot attempted to go down to the street and cover the protest and was beaten with a rock.
MacKenzie wants Sloan to prep her for an appearance on a panel discussing economic issues. MacKenzie is ignoring Wade's calls.
One of ACN's morning anchors begins a rant about Wade, adding information about Will and MacKenzie's past from Nina's gossip reporting in TMI. His female co-anchor is unsuccessful in guiding him away from his rant. Charlie gets patched directly into the morning guy's earpiece and forces him to stop.
Maggie wants Jim to do something nice on Valentine's Day for Lisa. He doesn't agree, saying they aren't in a relationship. She suggests a romantic dinner reservation, gift and card.
Neal gets Amen online and introduces him to MacKenzie. Amen is uncertain when she asks that he report showing his face and using his real name. Neal is able to talk him into it.
Despite the potential problems with Leona, Will and Charlie plan to chase another story involving the Koch brothers.
During the next broadcast Gary tells Will that some people have given TMI money to keep their name out of the tabloid's stories.
Amen gives the team some suggests about the next step he'd like his reporting to take. It involves government actions and seems more dangerous.
Sloan explains the financial crisis to MacKenzie over drinks. She asks MacKenzie why her relationship with Will can't be fixed and she doesn't get an answer.
Neal is panicking because he's hasn't heard from Amen. A bruised and bandaged Elliot limps into the newsroom to applause. Don suggests a way they can track Amen's GPS phone.
Don and Charlie debate whether Elliot should be one the air. Don seems to be arguing for it because he thinks it'll be good for the reputation of journalists.
Will's told a hit piece on MacKenzie is on the way. It has to do with an old story she did in the Middle East. He get a phone number from Gary.
The team has unearthed a bunch of information about the Kochs and their secret political donations. The story is that it would be in their best interest to get rid of unions. Neal walks in with word Amen has officially disappeared and the team begins calling their contacts. Neal is so enraged by Rush Limbaugh commenting on foreign journalists being taken in Egypt that he punches his monitor.
The network's legal team is concerned about liability related to helping Amen.
Don admits to Will he was the one who ordered Elliot to the street. He feels guilty.
Elliot finds out the military has Amen. They want $250,000 wired to a "charity" and it seems Will is the only one who can make it happen.
Wade shows up at the studio during the next show looking for MacKenzie. Out on the terrace, she confronts him about his running for office. He makes a dismissive response, and she breaks it off with him on the spot.
Will meets with Nina. She asks him to be a silent partner in a restaurant she's interested in for $50,000. He starts writing her a check, but when she makes a snide comment about journalism, he gives her a speech about what real journalism entails, threatens both her and Leona and crumples up the check.
Lisa comes to the newsroom and rips Jim for standing him up on Valentine's Day. Maggie ends up trying to stick up for him and rips the holiday.
MacKenzie warns Will not to pay off anybody on her behalf.
We also learn that since corporate wouldn't help Amen, Will paid the money to free him out of his own pocket.
Similar to the film Rudy, a string of staffers chip in money to help. Will gets a standing ovation in the newsroom.
6Bullies
April, 2011: Will has insomnia and drops by a psychiatrist's office for a prescription. The doc, the son of a man Will consulted four years before, invites Will to sit: their session becomes flashbacks of the previous week. The Japanese may be downplaying the danger at Fukushima, Will presses Sloane to ask tougher follow-up questions, Mackenzie directs Jim and Maggie to do opposition research on Will (so Charlie can anticipate the next gossip attack), Will insists viewers' Internet comments no longer be anonymous and he receives a threat on his life, and Rick Santorum explores running for President. An engagement ring appears, a gay man interviewed. Who are the bullies?
75/1
Sunday evening, May 1, 2011. The ACN news team is at Will's for a party to mark a year of good reporting. Charlie gets a call alerting him to a major news announcement at 10. By 9:00, everyone's on their way to the studio (with Will under the influence of a Vicodin and two pot-laced cookies). Don, Sloan, and Elliot are stuck on the tarmac at LaGuardia waiting for a gate. As the team uses brains and sources to narrow the possibilities - and get confirmation of what's going on - Charlie has to make the call as to when they go on the air: get it right without collateral damage. By evening's end, he gets a second tip suggesting that another story is brewing.
8The Blackout, Part 1: Tragedy Porn
May, 2011. Ratings have dropped like a stone with viewers switching to "Nancy Grace" for the Casey Anthony trial. Charlie insists they start reporting on Anthony fearing that the ratings fall will mean ACN won't get to lead on presidential debates (they have a game-changing idea) and that Leona will have her excuse to fire Will. Mackenzie pitches fits and grumbles. Then, Anthony Weiner's genitalia become news, and there's precious little room for Sloane to report that a Congressional decision to debate the deficit ceiling will precipitate fiscal havoc. Will invites Mac's ex to audition for a cover story about the show. A scandal is brewing, and the weather also wants a piece of the hour.
9The Blackout, Part 2: Mock Debate
The pitch to the NRC requires one last push to drive ratings up: Lisa knew Casey Anthony in high school, so Jim and Maggie visit her at work to beg her to appear on the show. The day of the pitch arrives: Will takes the team of Republican presidential hopefuls through a mock debate. Will asks his psychiatrist why he can't forgive Mackenzie; she hits some emotional high notes about both the Anthony coverage and Brian's presence in the newsroom. Flowers are in Will's office; how they got there prompts Mackenzie to tell Jim to gather his rosebuds. Neal, with Sloan's help, hatches a new plan to get his troll license. There's danger in both Jim and Neal's actions.
10The Greater Fool
On a night in August, 2011, there are many top stories as voter ID laws take hold and Congressional Republicans hold the nation's credit hostage. In flashbacks, we see the eight days leading up to a hard-hitting broadcast. Will is in hospital, resolved not to come back to "News Night," Brian's published a savage piece in "New York," Charlie's source at the NSA may not be rock solid, and Nina is pursuing confirmation that Will was high on the night he announced bin Laden's death. Sloan surprises Don, Don surprises Maggie, Jim takes a "Sex and the City" bus tour, Neal eggs on the haters, and a somewhat-familiar young woman sits in the newsroom.
1Boston
Following the Genoa disaster, Mac, Will and the team are cautious when reporting a major story; Neal is contacted by a mysterious source in possession of stolen government documents; Sloan tries to solve a puzzle; Maggie must take Elliot's place.
2Run
While Rebecca must once again defend ACN during a possible lawsuit, Will tries to protect Neal from the aftermath of the DOD leak; Charlie and Leona deal with a hostile takeover; Sloan worries about Don's involvement with insider information.
3Main Justice
Reece and Leona need to raise some money to save ACN and stop Randy and Blair; Will gets a surprise while attending a dinner at the White House; Maggie's story is featured on "New Night"; Don and Sloan try to keep their relationship secret.
4Contempt
Will continues to defy the government by refusing to out the name of the source of the stolen documents. The team tries to make sure that the first reporter that wrote the story gets out of the middle east safely, and ACN's new buyer's style of news doesn't sit well with Charlie. Sloane and Don keep dodging Human Resources, and Mac sets up a secret meeting of her own. Sloane and Charlie try to find another buyer for ACN. Jim tries to be supportive of his girlfriend's online column.
5Oh Shenandoah
ACN continues its charge towards younger ratings by going after youth driven news items such as date rape and celebrity siting apps. Will, still serving his prison sentence for refusing to reveal his source, begins a troubling conversation with a new cell mate. Jim and Maggie try to track down Edward Snowden at a Russian Airport and coincidently end up confronting their own secrets. Sloan's attempt to discredit a new ACN staff member on the air have unforseen consequences.
6What Kind of Day Has It Been
The events that led to the inception of 'News Night 2.0' are explained, as Charlie tries to convince MacKenzie in accepting a TV role. Sloan and Don recount the events that led to Charlie's heart attack, both accusing themselves of contributing to his death. Maggie and Jim continue to face questions about their relationship, whilst Will and ACN staff have trouble keeping a secret.
